This year I planted a few rows of potatoes on a rough old patch of ground next to the main veg patch. It had previously been covered with a bit of straw, but I had never dug it over. As I was in a rush to get planting and had no time to spare, I decided to plant the spuds on the surface, and just rake some soil over the top.
As you can see, I scored a line in the earth with a hoe; dropped the seed potatoes in (un-chitted and cut in half) and then raked over as much loose soil as I could (there wasn’t much). After a month or so, I earthed them up a little more, and once during the summer when the weeds got too much the whole patch was weeded. Apart from that they’ve had no attention, but are giving plenty of really good-sized potatoes on an almost daily basis.
As a way of getting potatoes for almost no effort, I think this has really worked. Because spuds are a good ‘cleaning crop’, I will now be able to turn over this patch during winter and next year it will become a soft-fruit bed for raspberries and currants.
Rosie said
My spuds got blight but I cleared the haulms off as soon as the leaves started to wither and dug the spuds up a few days later – the desiree were HUGE so I really hope they’ll store well. There is something so exciting about digging spuds isn’t there?
Alan said
Just makes you hungry doesn’t it!
advertees said
This is all looking so good, we are having a pretty poor year in Cornwall, with the wet weather nothing has done so well.
Some of the permaculture places where I woofed in Newzealand used to put hey or straw on top of their potatoes instead of soil, it kept the weeds down and you could simply lift it up and take a few when you needed them.
howlingduckranch said
I just got told by some old timers here that they use straw/hay rather than dirt to grow their spuds in. They say it makes the digging much easier, and the spuds come out clean!